Dependence on petroleum in the United States and internationally has led to a focus on methods of using biomass as alternative energy sources. However, biomass, including fossilized biomass (e.g., petroleum), presents a significant processing challenge, because it is a complex mixture of biopolymers of low energy density. Biomass can be used to produce synthesis gas (“syngas”), which in turn can be used to produce synthetic fuels. Current methods to process biomass, such as fast pyrolysis or gasification, are complicated, slow, and typically involve transportation of the biomass to a central processing location.
Direct thermochemical conversion of biomass, without significant pre-processing, to a single clean stream of syngas would provide significant economic and environmental benefits. Syngas can easily be converted into diesel fuel through the Fischer Tropsch process or to methanol or dimethyl ether, allowing high efficiency end use in modern diesel engines without significant changes in the current transportation infrastructure. However, current processes lack effective catalytic methods that are easily scalable and sufficiently simple for coupling to standard reforming practices.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for producing syngas.